I <3 M

It's been a good couple months.

Love You More - Alexi Murdoch

I'm In Love With A Girl - Big Star

Re: Stacks - Bon Iver

Comfort - Carbon Leaf

Dream Girl - Dave Matthew's Band

Ordinary Man - Gregory Douglass & Grace Potter

Heartbeats (The Knife) - José González

A Good Day (Morning Song) - Priscilla Ahn

You Are The Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne

Everybody Knows - Ryan Adams

Dreaming - Sara Wheeler

Love Will Come Through - Travis

Destiny - Zero 7

Hype - Buy

Alone Again...

I think I messed that up. I only hope that things can be fixed, given time. I really, really do.

Blues Run the Game (Jackson C. Frank) - Colin Meloy
Come Around - Rhett Miller
Crying. Waiting. Hoping- Buddy Holly
Fall Apart Again - Brandi Carlile
Hand On Your Heart (Kiley Minogue) - José González
Happiness - Alison Kruass & Union Station
Hello - Schuyler Fisk
I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You - Colin Hay
In The Sun - Joseph Arthur
Last of Days - A Fine Frenzy
Life Less Ordinary - Carbon Leaf
The Long Goodbye - A Girl Called Eddy
Low Millions - Low Millions
Photographs of You - Jon Regen
Please Forgive Me - David Gray
Re: Stacks - Bon Iver
So Sorry - Feist
Stay or Leave - Dave Matthews

Hype - Buy

Happy

Heartbeats - José González
Comfort - Carbon Leaf
Hold You In My Arms - Ray LaMontagne
Her Morning Elegance - Oren Lavie
Re: Stacks - Bon Iver
Heart Made of Sound - Softlights
Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch
Much Further To Go - Rosie Thomas

Hype - Buy

Concert Review: Twi the Humble Feather and José González

(Picture J.Muntz)

Last night, one of my favorite artists came to town - José González. I've been a huge fan of his for nearly three years now, and seeing him in person has been on my MUST DO list for about that entire time. I've thought about driving down to Boston several times when he's been in time, but things like real life have gotten in the way.
Last night, he played a set at the Higher Ground music hall in South Burlington, his first time in Vermont, alongside a Brooklyn called Twi the Humble Feather.

I did a quick listen to these guys on myspace prior to the concert, and I don't know what it was, but I wasn't that into them. However, seeing them in person and with my brother (who's a music major), I loved their performance. They have a unique, complex and layered sound from the trio, who are all playing in the classical style that just blew me away. The vocals were really interesting, and they really varied their sound and pacing throughout their short set.

Space Ships
The Adventures of Castle One
Music for Spaceships and Forests
Higher At the End
Unknown

José González blew me away even more. Completely, and I can say that this was one of the best concerts that I've ever been to, despite the fact that I couldn't see him half the time because of the tall people in front of me.
I've long been a fan of his guitarwork but what I've never gotten listening to his albums is the physical presence and feel of his playing. The reverb from his guitar along was felt through the entire room, and his voice was clearer than most of the artists that I've seen play in that room. Soundwise, this was the clearest, perfect type of sound - it was sublime, and I was getting chills listening to it.
González's set was fantastic, playing a nice mix of songs from his two albums, hitting the really big songs, such as Heartbeats, Teardrop, Killing for Love, and Crosses, but some of the other ones, such as Fold, The Nest and Abram.
González's voice was incredible. It was strong, and soft, absolutely perfect for this style of music, and combined with his guitar playing, I can easily say that this was one of the best shows I've ever seen.

How Low
Hints
Fold
Hearbeats (The Knife)
The Nest
All You Deliver
Stay in the Shade
Lovestain
Down the Line
Broken Arrows
Deadweight on Velvetine
Crosses
Cycling Trivialities
Teardrop (Massive Attack)
Encore:
Abram
Killing For Love
Time To Send Someone Away
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)

Higher Than the End - Twi the Humble Feather

Heartbeats (The Knife) - José González
Down the Line - José González

Hype - Buy - Look - Look Again

The Best of May

This past month has been really, really rich with music. There's been a lot of really good songs that've come through this way, and I'm really excited for what the rest of the summer will bring. Bring on the noise:

Ease Back - Amos Lee
Listen - Amos Lee
Amos Lee is one of my favorite musicians, and judging from the tracks that I've heard from his upcoming 3rd album (Due out June 24th), I'm betting that this one will be his best yet.

Life in Technicolor - Coldplay
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
Coldplay's changing things up a little with a bit of a newer sound, and like Lee, I'm thinking that this will be one of their better albums. I can't wait to hear the rest of it.

Cath... - Death Cab for Cutie
Grapevine Fires - Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie's latest album also changed things up quite a bit, and on the whole, it's stronger, edgier and it sounds fantastic.

Robots - Flight of the Conchords
I love these guys, they're absolutely hilarious. Robots is just a geeky song to begin with, and they just make me want to burst out laughing.

Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat
This is a nice, cute duet from these two.

Killing for Love (Beatfanatic Remix) - José González
I love Gonzalez's work, and while I'm not a huge fan of remixes, this is a really good one that I've been listening to a lot.

Magnetismo (Magnatism) - Landon Pigg
Landon Pigg's off to a good start with his first EP, and I think this is the strongest song on the album.

Meet Me By The River - Matthew Ryan
This song is raspy, emotional and really, really good. I suspect that Ryan's album will make it to the end of the year as one of the best.

Dream - Priscilla Ahn
I saw Ahn last year with Cary Brothers, and I really liked her sound, it's sweet and calm. I picked up her EP, and have been waiting eagerly for more news about her next album, due to be released this June. I can't wait.

The World, The People Together - The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are back, and they've got energy. This reminds me a lot of Bohemian Like You, which is a fantastic song.

Orbiting - The Weepies
I really dug these guys 2nd album, and this is one of the best songs on there. Very sweet, easy on the ears.

Hype - Buy

House Season Finale

I've often said that I've loved the show House MD, and particularly, their tastes in music when picking the soundtrack. Last night was the Season finale, which I think was one of the best episodes in the entire show yet. (There are some spoilers here)
From the beginning, when House replaced his entire team, I didn't really like Amber, and was happy that she wasn't picked for the team. But since she's started going out with Wilson, she's become more than tolerable, and her sparring with House was something that was really interesting. This little story arc was far more powerful and different than some of the other ones.
Last night's episode, when we found that she was in the accident, and that there was nothing that they could do, the last act of the show was possibly the most emotional one on there, especially when Wilson turned off the bypass. Bon Iver's Re: Stacks was the absolute perfect song that they could work in there, and hearing Jose Gonzalez's cover of the theme song, Teardrop, was fantastic as well. And, to cap it off, with Iron and Wine's Passing Afternoon, I think we hit the jackpot with songs.
After that last scene, I'll be interested to see what happens next season between House and Wilson.

Passing Afternoon - Iron & Wine
Re: Stacks - Bon Iver
Teardrop - José González

Hype - Buy - Look

Cover and Original: Down the Line

This was one of the better songs off of José González's sophomore album, In Our Nature, and was one of the singles released alongside Smalltown Boy. It combines a good beat, nicely supported by González's vocals and excellent guitar work that sets this song apart from his earlier works.
What's interesting is that there's two bands that have separately covered this song. The Gutter Twins have their own rendition of the song, which adds in drums, piano and guitar work to this song, giving it a pretty different sound. That part's okay, but the vocal work here falls flat from the first lines.
The Twilight Singers also do a version of the song, also adding in a fast drum and piano part, but this time around, the song is turned from an fast acoustic sounding song into something that's more along the lines of a rock song, and it works here pretty well.
Neither cover comes close to González's work, but the Twilight Singer's version does do a good job with it.

Down The Line (José González) - The Gutter Twins
Down The Line (José González) - The Twilight Singers
Down The Line - José González

Hype - Buy - Look

José González Coming to Vermont!

HOLY CRAP! I just found that José González is coming to the Higher Ground Showroom in Vermont. June 24th, the day before my birthday.

Words cannot describe how excited I am to hear about that.

Now, to buy tickets. Tickets ordered. This summer officially rocks.

Heartbeats (The Knife) - José González
Teardrop (Massive Attack) - José González

Hype - Buy - Look

Mountain Tops are Nice from the Distance - José González B-Sides

One of my absolute favorite artists that I've come across in recent years is José González, who plays the guitar with such an incredible style. He's since produced two records, Veneer and In Our Nature, two absolutely incredible records that are well worth checking out if you haven't already. In addition to his two main records, Gonzalez has put out several EPs, each consisting of a couple of songs. Here's my selection of Jose Gonzalez B-Sides that are just fantastic.

This is my first attempt at a B-Sides compilation, hope that you enjoy.

Born in the US (Bruce Springsteen) - José González
Hand On Your Heart (Kiley Minogue) - José González
Hints - José González
Last Snowstorm of the Year - José González
Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division) - José González
Neon Lights - José González
Sensing Owls - José González
Smalltown Boy - José González
Storm - José González
Suggestions - José González

Mountaintops are Nice From The Distance - Zipped

Hype - Buy - Look

C&O

This week's cover and original is a familiar pairing - José González and an electronica type band, this time, Massive Attack, and their song, Teardrop. This song entered into my consiousness via the show House MD, where it's used as the theme song. A year ago, before In Our Nature was even announced, González had been touring with the song, and it was fantastic to see it end up on his record.
Teardrop is a fantastic song - it's got a great rhythm here, and González had really made the song Heartbeats by The Knife, his own, he really keeps with the same sound and feel of the original Teardrop here in this cover version.


Teardrop - José González

Teardrop - Massive Attack

Hype - Buy

Recent Concerts - Live in Washington DC

I'm a big fan of National Public Radio and the program All Songs Considered. Vermont Public Radio has it's own version called My Place, hosted by Joel Nashman, and is an incredibly detailed look at music history and musicians, which is always fun to listen to.

In recent weeks, NPR has put up a couple of really good concerts online:

Josh Ritter - Listen
José González - Listen
Iron & Wine - Listen
Rilo Kiley - Listen

Hype - Look

C&O - Heartbeats

This song quickly became one of my favorite songs ever last year, after I heard it a couple times. It's the song that's featured in the bouncing ball commercial, and it's the one that turned me to José González and I've been listening to his stuff ever since. It's a beauiful work on the acoustic guitar.

So imagine my surprise when this turns out to have been a techno song by the Knife. I'm not a huge fan of the original. Some parts of it doesn't sit well with me, which makes Gonzalez's cover all the more interesting. He's gone and completely changed the song and made it his own work, which for me, shows an incredible musical skill. This isn't meer emulation, this is creativity at it's height.

Heartbeats - The Knife

Heartbeats - José González

Hype - Buy

The Best of September

This has been a really good month for music, with a ton of albums being released and with some good stuff floating around out there. Here's the best of what I found this month -

You Can't Always Get What You Want - Band from TV

The Band from TV is just as it sounds, a band from TV. It's a collection of actors from various TV shows who've come together, including Hugh Laurie (House MD) and Greg Grunsberg (Heroes, Alias), among others. One of their first tracks released was for the House, MD Soundtrack, a cover of the Rolling Stones song, You Can't Always Get What You Want, one of the trademark songs from House, MD. It's a fun cover, with a bit of a different take than the original.

Eh Hee - Dave Matthews

This song is weird. Just plain weird, and really different from everything that Dave Matthews has done thus far. It's got a weird beat, lyrics and video. And it's pretty cool, once you get over how odd it is.

State of Massachusetts - Dropkick Murphys

This is the latest from the Dropkick Murphys, which sounds like one of their Irish rock songs, with a kickass beat and an interesting story with their lyrics.

Hard Sun - Eddie Vedder

One of the main tracks from the soundtrack Into the Wild, this is a cover of somebody's (I can't remember what the original artist was), and it's one of those songs that just struck me while I was driving. Good lyrics, and when the chorus kicks in, I'm good.

Beautiful - Elvis Costello

I've been trying to find this for a while, ever since it was used in a House, MD episode, Elvis Costello's cover of Christina Agulara's Beautiful. It's got a good beat and overall, a much better cover than the original.

Let It Die - Foo Fighters

Just off of Echoes, Silence and Grace, the Foo Fighters are back (review coming soon) and this is one of the cooler songs off the album, starting off really slowly, but building over the whole song.

Home - Foo Fighters

This is one of the softer Foo Fighters songs off the album, and it really goes to show that these guys can do more than just fast rock. Dave Gohl's voice with the piano is just fantastic here.

Pagen Angel and a Borrowed Car - Iron & Wine

This is one of my favorite favorites of the month. It starts off stripped of sound before opening up about 20 seconds into the song, with amazing drum and guitar work, as well as Sam Beam's fantastic voice. I love this song.

Carousel - Iron & Wine

I also love this one. It's got some amazing guitar work and vocals and has a delicate and relaxed sound to it. One of the best off of the album The Shepherd's Dog.

In Our Nature - José González

José González is back with In Our Nature, and the title track has a fantastic sound and off beat tone to his acoustic guitar and drum work.

Teardrop - José González

This is a cover of Massive Attack's song, and like Heartbeats before in Veneer, González shows what he can do with an electronic song, although the result isn't as dramatic as it was with Heartbeats. No matter, this song is just amazing as is.

White Bird - KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall is back with Drastic Fantastic. While not as good as her earlier album, White Bird is one of the stronger songs on the album, with a nice laid back sound and really good vocal work on her part.

Hopeless - KT Tunstall

This is another one of the stronger songs off of Drastic Fantastic, with a nice beat and good KT Tunstall sound. The vocals and drumwork are flawless here.

Love Song - Sara Bareilles

This is the lead single off of newcomer Sara Bareille's album Little Voice. She's got a good sound with the piano and a strong voice here, and some fantastic lyrics.

Many The Miles - Sara Bareilles

This is another fantastic song off of Little Voice, with fantastic piano and vocals, with a good opener that eases nicely into the chorus here, with a nice blend of soul, R&B and rock.

Buttons - Sia

Sia's best known (at least to me) for her collaborations with Zero 7. I like her work with them just fine, but it wasn't until this song that I really listened to her. This song's quirky pop sound is really cool, and distinctive.

Hype - Buy

New Music: Foo Fighters, Jose Gonzalez & Iron and Wine

Three albums out today that I'm looking to pick up from three of my favorite artists. I've really been looking forwards to these for a while, and can't wait to add them to my collection.





Foo Fighters- Echoes Silence Patience & Grace

This album sounds really good, and the lead single, the Pretender, is a really fun song, right up in line with Best of You, which is one of my favorites anyway.

The Pretender - Foo Fighters











Buy


Iron & Wine- The Shepherd's Dog


This album sounds incredible - Iron & Wine (aka Sam Beam) has really come a long way with his sound from his first album, bringing us an incredibly rich and wonderful sounding set of music.



Pagen Angel and a Borrowed Car - Iron & Wine

Buy


José González- In Our Nature



Gonzalez is back this week with his followup to Veneer, his first really good album. This one's got a fantastic cover of Massive Attack's Teardrop, but also a great set of his own songs that just sounds incredible.



Killing for Love - José González

Buy

Hype Machine

Killing For Love - New José González Video

The video for one of José González's latest songs is now up online, entitled Killing For Love. It's a fantastic song, but I'm not really impressed by the video, like I was for the one for Heartbeats.


Kill For Love

The video for Heartbeats is absolutely amazing:

Heartbeats

Here's another one for Crosses, which I hadn't found before: